8 Traits for Success

It’s a new year, and most of us start out with great hopes and expectations. If you want to be successful this year, then here’s some ideas from Richard St. John. He interviewed over 500 people over a ten year period to determine the most common traits of successful people.

His eight traits for success are:

1. Love what you do – You won’t be successful if you aren’t happy in your career. Find something you are passionate about.

2. Work hard – The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Be prepared to work long hours on the journey to success.

3. Focus on one thing – You cannot make progress on everything. You have to make tough decisions on what to put your limited amount of energy into. Focus on that one thing that you love.

4. Keep pushing yourself – You are the only one who is going to motivate you. Continue making progress every day towards your goals.

5. Come up with good ideas – Generate new ideas regularly so that you and your business do not become stale. Many of your new ideas may not be acted upon, but the process of generating new ideas will ensure you come up with some excellent ones.

6. Keep improving yourself and what you do – After a short time our skills and processes become out-of-date. Continue to read, learn and try new things. This is one of the keys to long-term success.

7. Serve others something they value – You might think your idea is outstanding, but if no one else wants it then you’ll never be successful. Solve a problem that people have and they will start knocking on your door.

8. Persist - Be persistent. There is no overnight success.

On top of this success foundation, you then add the specific skills you need for your field or career. It could be leadership skills, technical abilities, or computer skills. When you’ve got the combination of the 8 traits for success and your specific career skills, then you are poised for success.

I would love to start you off in the right direction. Leadership coaching or training in strategic thinking, strategic planning or managing change might be what you need to boost your career.

Or you might want to read my life-planning book: Get Me Off the Treadmill!

Let’s talk! Valerie.MacLeod@HainesCentre.com

Watch a short video on Richards talk: 8 traits of successful people